Volume 2, Number 8
August, 1997
Men in Black/Face-Off
By Tony Han
I had promised myself that I would return to more cultural films when
summer rolled around. I mean, I enjoy a long-haired film as much as
the next movie fanatic. However, these two action films were too hard
to resist reviewing. I mean, the summers are definitely known for their
mega-bucks rollercoaster rides. Action films CAN be a cultural
experience as well, anyway: It's our culture, not some foreign one.
So, I hope you're ready for an addition to your American cultural
literacy. Though the summer blockbusters were actually ushered in
with Con-Air,
Men in Black and Face-Off are definitely the
heavy hitters for the season. Perhaps the most anticipated of summer
hits, both films are hosted by the biggest stars and puppeteered by
fairly impressive directors. Rollercoaster perhaps isn't the most
accurate word to use with these films, it's more like masquerade.
STATE TO BE IN TO ENJOY THE WILL SMITH/TOMMY LEE JONES DUO: Mildly
buzzed. Sonnenfeld is to be credited for the direction of the Men
in Black, a movie about alien immigrants. Well, I mean aliens
whose place of origin is light-years rather than a few miles. Tommy Lee
Jones and Will Smith play Earth's intergalactic INS, making sure that
our Visitors stay anonymous and behave themselves. There's actually
another plot that's more climatic, some alien that's threatening to
blow up the Earth unless they get their toys back, but it's not very
relevant. I'm sitting there watching the end of the Earth and couldn't
really care. That's how much of an effect that the real plot has.
The real fun is mostly wrapped up in Smith and Jones, who play very
well off of eachother. Jones places the older, more experienced,
straight-faced Texan. Smith counters with his young upstart image,
playing a new inductee via the New York police force. With powerful
characters such as Jones and Smith, it's not suprising that the film
is very dialogue and skit driven.
Maybe a few days before I saw MiB, I had rented the Tim Burton
disappointment, Mars Attacks! and was disappointed. Much of the
criticism of this movie revolved around the fact that Burton was aiming
to producing a campy movie, but missed the mark. MiB is much closer
to a campy alien movie than Mars Attacks! A friend of
mine pointed out that MiB, as well as Mars Attacks!,
attempts to return to more of a 50's version of what an alien was,
less sophistocated and serious than other science fiction movies
made in recent years. Special effects are up to snuff, but the aliens
are goofier and less threatening than Predator or
Alien. The most interesting reference is made by Tommy Lee
Jones' character. "It's like Casablanca, but without the Nazis". Well,
who are the Nazis then? MiB's view of aliens is as black and white as
Casablanca. The bad aliens are giant cockroaches and the
good aliens are cute. MiB, with much simpler elements and concepts, is
much more fun and campier, making it a good buy in terms of seeing it
on silver screens.
STATE TO BE IN TO WATCH JOHN TRAVOLTA MILK HIS FAST FADING COOL LOOK:
Drunk. Director John Woo is still working on some basic elements
that were his strength in Hong Kong but his bane in America:
Sentimentality and dis-continuity. He's improving to some degree,
but it still shows. Face-Off stars John Travolta as a
devoted Federal agent who captures his arch-nemesis played by
Nicolas Cage. After the arrest, Travolta is forced to wear the
face of Cage, literally, in order to stop a plot to blow up Los
Angeles. Well, Cage takes on Travolta's un-occupied face and takes
over Travolta's life. This plot allows much parodying and
self-deprecation, which is some of the most amusing moments of the
film. The action is fast-paced and acrobatic. John Woo's patented
action is still present with an insane amount of bullets whizzing
about, actors leaping around and camera angles and speeds that
savors the action. As previously mentioned, Woo's sentimentally
become tiresome very quickly, but look beyond these moments and focus
on the pulse-pounding energy. That's all that Woo promises and he
delivers quite well.
Face-Off, for this reviewer, is more than another action
film. This film is the second collaboration between Woo and Travolta,
Woo's third American film, and Cage's second action film. What does
all of this math mean? This history? Well, it's the next generation
of actioneers growing; directors and actors. Speaking of both
Face-Off and Men in Black, though Will Smith
has been in several action films already, he himself is still young
and showing much promise in action, comedy, and drama. Travolta's
enjoying his re-emergence as a major name. And Nicolas Cage is adding
to his portfolio which already contains comedy and drama. John Woo
the director is attempting to refine his style for an American
audience. All of these factors show signs or hopes of a brighter
future for action films. It's about time that Stallone and
Swartzenegger retires. Their characters are becoming more and more
tiresome. There's new blood in the hood.
